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Home My WebLink About02/20/1997 City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON February 20, 1997 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 6:45 p.m. on the 20th day of February, 1997, at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William Manning, Mayor Present Bill Longo, Councilmember Present Mary Watts, Councilmember Present David Stanwick, Councilmember Present Wilma Avey, Councilmember Present John Dillard, Councilmember Present Dave Kovatch, Councilmember Present and with seven present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS FOR SOLID WASTE AND RECYCLING SERVICES FOR THE CITY OF THE COLONY Mr. Johnny Smith opened the meeting by thanking the current contractors, Texas Waste Management and CWD for extending their respective contracts with the City so that - the council and committee had enough time to review the proposals and make the best decision. This process started in September, with proposals being received November 22, 1996. The proposals are for an automated system. HDR was hired to work with the committee and staff to review all proposals. All bidders have been kept apprised during the whole process. Tonight the council will hear presentations from Mike Carleton with HDR and the top 3 bidders. Proposals were received from Texas Waste Management, CWD, Laidlaw, BFI and IESI. Laidlaw did not meet all the requirements and BFI would not take all the recyclables. Mr. Smith continued. Any one of these companies represented tonight can provide the service, and after this meeting, the council will have to decide what criteria they want to use to award the contract, i.e., low cost only or service and track record. Mike Carleton with HDR addressed the council. He was hired to evaluate the RFP's and has worked with the city staff and committee to identify goals and needs. Staff did the reference calls. Mr. Carleton then summarized each RFP from the lowest bidders, Texas Waste Management(TWM), CWD and IESI. He pointed out the strong and weak points of each company. CWD - lowest bidder, primarily commercial pick-up experience, no landfill IESI - second lowest bidder, no landfill, least experienced company TWM - third lowest bidder, most assets, most experience and have their own landfill Sludge hauling and disposal was not addressed in great detail because it will eventually go to a regional composting site. It should not be considered as a deciding factor in awarding this contract. Councilman Longo asked if any of these bidders had any problems with how this process had been handled and asked if everyone had been treated fairly. Representatives from all three bidders; A1 Judciewicz (TWM), Mickey Flood (IESI) and Greg Roemer (CWD) stated they were very satisfied with the process, that it was handled very professionally and that staff had done due diligence is checking out references. The consultant and the bidders then responded to questions from the council as follows: Weights of the trucks to be used and the impact on our streets. TWM - 28 yd, CWD - 27 yd. and IESI - 20 yd. Weights should be about the same and damage to streets would also be about the same within any one of the trucks. There should be less damage caused with newer models than with what is being used now. Size of the recycling carts. They all offer 95 gallon carts. A 64 gallon cart was not asked for. Council was reminded that once the award is made to one of these companies, they can still negotiate details with that bidder. There will be a separate bin for recycling than for solid waste. Landfills used by CWD and IESI. They both contract with Farmers Branch. CWD has had a contract since 1980, which is renewed annually. IESI has contracted with Farmers Branch for 2 years. IESI also uses the landfill in McKinney and Sanifill in Ft. Worth. Sludge hauling and disposal. All alternatives were looked at and whatever the council wants to do is what any one of these companies will do. All three can handle it. Again, Mr. Carleton stated this should not be a major, long term consideration in this contract. Councilman Watts said we still need the costs for hauling and disposal. Mr. Smith explained that the city can't do it until the centrifuge is installed, which should happen in the near future. Councilman Dillard also stated this is not a main consideration in this contract, because we will eventually haul it ourselves to the regional composting site. Rumors regarding CWD. They are not selling their company. The City of Kaufman would not substantiate a rumor regarding poor service by CWD. IESI - Youth of the company, lots of debt and start up costs. Mr. Flood gave a history of the company and his professional background. Their debt includes start up expenses that have been expensed, not amortized. Mr. Flood continued, stating they bid the smaller trucks because they thought it was important to the city and said if it is not, they can use larger trucks. They also offer a 50% rebate on the recycling revenue, as well as 75 free roll-offs for use in city clean ups. Their price includes ownership of the recycling carts and if that is not something the city wants, the price can be lowered. Replacement costs of carts - CWD - $60.00, IESI - $50.00, TWM - one free replacement and then $65.00. General discussion followed regarding which recyclables will be picked up. IESI was questioned. Mr. Flood said the list is negotiable and they can pick up anything except #6. Mr. Carleton advised the IESI proposal includes revenue and rebate on recyclables. CWD - Greg Roemer addressed the council. CWD was awarded the city's recycling contract in 1993 because they were the lowest bidder. Now The Colony has an award winning recycling program. CWD is the low bidder this time on solid waste and have met all the requirements of the RFP. He stated he does not think bulky pick-ups will be as high as HDR's estimate of 60-80,000. They will provide a kick-off program, literature and will place someone in City Hall to answer questions for the first 30 days. Commercial pick-ups are not covered by this RFP. The City does not provide that service. Each business handles their own contract, as will any apartment complexes that come in to the city. Lengthy discussion followed regarding bulky waste, costs, methods of pick-up etc. It was noted that an automated system defines the space for solid waste, and the volume of bulky waste may increase as a result. TWM - Bob Keller addressed the council. Bulky waste has always been a problem in The Colony. All three companies can do the job. TWM can offer the guarantee of landfill costs through the life of the contract. He asked the council to look at some of the points of their proposal and stated they would be happy to negotiate. Janice Brady questioned the gate rate charge of $15.66. Mr. Keller advised the gate rate charge is just a little over $6.00 not $15.66. Mr. Smith advised the guarantee of the gate rate charge should have been included in their proposal. Negotiating is fine, but it would be great to lock in that charge. Landfill charge to residents. Farmers Branch does not allow private dumping. TWM has a convenience center that is separate from the landfill for the use of residents. IESI will provide a convenience center in the city for residents to use. Farmer's Branch current gate rate is $5.10 per cubic yard. Councilman Kovatch asked IESI the difference in price if a larger truck was used. Mr. Flood could not say but advised there are three areas to be negotiated: 1. Ownership of recycling carts 2. Take out bulky waste charge and use "Pay as you go" 3. Change from 20 to 27 yard trucks - more productive Mr. Flood said if these things are negotiable, then the price can be reduced. Mike Carleton said he will get weights of trucks and ground pressure before the next meeting. He will also clarify the numbers of sludge hauling and disposal. Mayor Manning said this is on the agenda for Monday night and we need to decide which company we want to negotiate with. Councilman Kovatch asked what the committee members think. Mayor Manning advised that he needs time to digest the information given tonight. The Mayor stated the council can award to one company, negotiate with them and if details can't be worked out satisfactorily then work with another company. Mr. Smith reminded the council that a decision needs to be made by the end of April when the TWM and CWD contracts expire. Mr. Judciewicz with TWM and Greg Roemer with CWD both said they will extend their respective contracts another 30 days so the city does not have to rush through this process. They will both send a letter to the city stating their agreement to extend. Mayor Manning directed the City Secretary to poll the council to see when everyone can be available to meet regarding this matter again, f~ D3-O ~'~ ~ '~--. _r> q~;: ~ ~ m ~ APPROVED: will~m W. Manning, Mayor ~ ATTEST: Patti A. Hicks,TRMC City Secretary